Peer-to-peer network for telecommunication network traffic rerouting

ABSTRACT

Devices, computer-readable media and methods are disclosed for establishing a peer-to-peer network for rerouting network traffic of a telecommunication network during a network disruption. For example, a processing system may detect a network disruption between a first device and a second device of the telecommunication network. The processing system may identify a first peering device having a connection to the first device of the telecommunication network, identify a second peering device having a connection to the second device of the telecommunication network, and establish a peer-to-peer network via at least the first peering device and the second peering device, wherein at least one of the first peering device or the second peering device is a mobile endpoint device configured to operate as a virtual network function. The processing system may then route network traffic between the first device and the second device via the peer-to-peer network.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.16/037,677, filed Jul. 17, 2018, now U.S. Pat. No. 11,349,913, which isherein incorporated by reference in its entirety.

The present disclosure relates generally to telecommunication networkoperations, and more particularly to devices, computer-readable media,and methods for establishing a peer-to-peer network for reroutingnetwork traffic of a telecommunication network during a networkdisruption.

BACKGROUND

Upgrading a telecommunication network to a software defined network(SDN) architecture implies replacing or augmenting existing networkelements that may be integrated to perform a single function with newnetwork elements. The replacement technology may comprise a substrate ofnetworking capability, often called network function virtualizationinfrastructure (NFVI) that is capable of being directed with softwareand SDN protocols to perform a broad variety of network functions andservices. Different locations in the telecommunication network may beprovisioned with appropriate amounts of network substrate, and to theextent possible, routers, switches, edge caches, middle-boxes, and thelike, may be instantiated from the common resource pool. In addition,where the network edge has previously been well-defined, the advent ofnew devices and SDN architectures are pushing the edge closer and closerto the customer premises and to devices that customers use on aday-to-day basis.

SUMMARY

In one example, the present disclosure discloses a device,computer-readable medium, and method for establishing a peer-to-peernetwork for rerouting network traffic of a telecommunication networkduring a network disruption. For example, a processing system includingat least one processor may detect a network disruption in a region of atelecommunication network, the network disruption preventing acommunication between at least a first device of the telecommunicationnetwork and at least a second device of the telecommunication network.The processing system may then identify a first peering device of aplurality of peering devices having a connection to the first device ofthe telecommunication network, identify a second peering device of theplurality of peering devices having a connection to the second device ofthe telecommunication network, and establish a peer-to-peer network viaat least the first peering device and the second peering device of theplurality of peering devices, wherein at least one of the first peeringdevice or the second peering device is a mobile endpoint device, whereinthe mobile endpoint device is configured to operate as a virtual networkfunction. The processing system may then route network traffic betweenthe first device of the telecommunication network and the second deviceof the telecommunication network via the peer-to-peer network.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The teaching of the present disclosure can be readily understood byconsidering the following detailed description in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example system related to the present disclosure;

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an example method for establishing apeer-to-peer network for rerouting network traffic of atelecommunication network during a network disruption; and

FIG. 3 illustrates an example high-level block diagram of a computerspecifically programmed to perform the steps, functions, blocks, and/oroperations described herein.

To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have beenused, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common tothe figures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure broadly discloses devices, computer-readablemedia and methods for establishing a peer-to-peer network for reroutingnetwork traffic of a telecommunication network during a networkdisruption. For instance, examples of the present disclosure extend thetelecommunication network using peering devices that are known to thetelecommunication network as hop-on/hop-off points to thetelecommunication network infrastructure. The peering device may includemobile endpoint devices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearablecomputing devices, or the like, for cellular and/or non-cellularwireless communications, cellular hotspot devices, wireless accesspoints, e.g., Wi-Fi routers, and so forth. The network extensionscomprise sub-networks created via the peering devices through whichnetwork traffic can be offloaded from and rerouted back to thetelecommunication network as appropriate. In one example, peeringdevices are configured to recognize other peering devices that arewithin an established range, e.g., within wireless connectivity range ofeach other and/or with a reference point, such as a cellular basestation or wireless access point, within a given distance as establishedby global positioning system (GPS) location information, locationinformation derived from cellular base station signaling, such asreceived signal strength location information, time of arrival locationinformation, time difference of arrival location information, and/orangle of arrival location information, or other types of location basedservices (LBS) capability, and so forth.

In one example, upon detection of a network disruption by atelecommunication network-based controller, peering devices may beinstructed to communicate with each other to establish a peer-to-peernetwork. Alternatively, or in addition, one or more of the peeringdevices may detect a network event and may reach out among themselves toestablish the peer-to-peer network without instruction from atelecommunication network-based controller. In either case, at least twoof the peering devices may establish (or maintain) connectivity to thetelecommunication network to demarc hop-on and hop-off points for thepeer-to-peer network to offload network traffic and to avoid theaffected area(s) of the telecommunication network. In one example, thepeering devices may also include telecommunication networkinfrastructure. For instance, a cellular base station that is unable toconnect to other portions of the telecommunication network throughprimary and secondary backhauls may instead be reconfigured to operateas one of the peering devices in the peer-to-peer network. In oneexample, the peering devices may comprise “white boxes” that can beconfigured and reconfigured to operate as different types of devices andto provide different functions, in addition to the existingfunctionalities of being a mobile endpoint device, a cellular hotspotdevice, a wireless access point, and so forth.

In one example, users may be incentivized to participate in apeer-to-peer network in response to a network disruption by providing adiscount or credit for telecommunication services. In one example,functionality to operate as a node in a peer-to-peer network of thepresent disclosure may be pre-loaded onto certain user devices that areprovided by a telecommunication network service provider, such aspersonal base station devices, wireless hotspot devices, tabletcomputing devices or smartphones provided via the telecommunicationnetwork service provider in connection with subscription services, andso forth. These and other aspects of the present disclosure arediscussed in greater detail below in connection with the examples ofFIGS. 1-3.

To aid in understanding the present disclosure, FIG. 1 illustrates anexample system 100 for performing or enabling the steps, functions,operations, and/or features described herein. The overall communicationssystem 100 may include a telecommunication network 101, which maycomprise any number of interconnected networks using the same ordifferent communication technologies. As illustrated in FIG. 1,telecommunication network 101 may include a network 103. In one example,the network 103 may comprise a core network, a backbone network, and/ora transport network, such as an Internet Protocol (IP) network and/or anIP/Multi-Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) network, where label switchedpaths (LSPs) can be assigned for routing Transmission Control Protocol(TCP)/IP packets, User Datagram Protocol (UDP)/IP packets, and othertypes of protocol data units (PDUs) (broadly “network traffic”).However, it will be appreciated that the present disclosure is equallyapplicable to other types of data units and network protocols. In thisregard, it should be noted that as referred to herein, “network traffic”may comprise all or a portion of a transmission, e.g., a sequence orflow, comprising one or more packets, segments, datagrams, frames,cells, PDUs, service data unit, bursts, and so forth. The particularterminology or types of data units involved may vary depending upon theunderlying network technology. Thus, the term “network traffic” isintended to refer to any quantity of data to be sent from a source to adestination through one or more networks.

The network 103 may alternatively or additionally comprise components ofa cellular core network, such as a Public Land Mobile Network (PLMN), aGeneral Packet Radio Service (GPRS) core network, and/or an evolvedpacket core (EPC) network, an Internet Protocol Multimedia Subsystem(IMS) network, a Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) network, and soforth. In one example, the network 103 uses network functionvirtualization infrastructure (NFVI), e.g., servers in a data center ordata centers that are available as host devices to host virtual machines(VMs) comprising virtual network functions (VNFs). In other words, atleast a portion of the core telecommunications network 103 mayincorporate software-defined network (SDN) components.

In one example, the network 103 may be in communication with wirelessaccess networks 120-122. In one example, wireless access networks120-122 may each comprise a radio access network implementing suchtechnologies as: Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), e.g., aBase Station Subsystem (BSS), or IS-95, a Universal MobileTelecommunications System (UMTS) network employing Wideband CodeDivision Multiple Access (WCDMA), or a CDMA3000 network, among others.In other words, wireless access networks 120-122 may comprise accessnetworks in accordance with any “second generation” (2G), “thirdgeneration” (3G), “fourth generation” (4G), Long Term Evolution (LTE),“fifth generation” (5G) or any other yet to be developed futurewireless/cellular network technology. In one example, the wirelessaccess networks 120-122 may include different types of networks. Inanother example, the wireless access networks 120-122 may be the sametype of network. While the present disclosure is not limited to anyparticular type of wireless access network, in the illustrative example,wireless access networks 120-122 are shown as UMTS terrestrial radioaccess network (UTRAN) subsystems, e.g., evolved UTRANs (eUTRANs). Thus,elements 151-154 may each comprise a NodeB or evolved NodeB (eNodeB). Inone example, elements 151-154 may each comprise at least one remoteradio head (RRH). In one example, elements 151-154 may each furthercomprise at least one baseband unit.

In the example of FIG. 1, the network 103 is also in communication withaccess network 123, which may comprise a circuit switched network (e.g.,a public switched telephone network (PSTN)), a cable network, a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) network, a metropolitan area network (MAN), anInternet service provider (ISP) network, and the like. As illustrated inFIG. 1, access network 123 provides network access to wireless accesspoints 188 and 189, e.g., Institute of Electrical and ElectronicsEngineers (IEEE) 802.11/Wi-Fi routers, in addition to endpoint devicesconnecting thereto. In one example, endpoint device 187 may comprise atraditional telephone for voice calls over a circuit switched accessnetwork or over an IP-based access network, (e.g., VoIP). Wirelessaccess networks 120-122 and access network 123 may be controlled oroperated by a same entity as that of network 103. For instance,telecommunication network 101 is illustrated as including all ofwireless access networks 120-122 and access network 123.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, network 103 is also connected to othernetworks 140. In one example, other networks 140 may represent one ormore enterprise networks, a circuit switched network (e.g., a publicswitched telephone network (PSTN)), a cable network, a digitalsubscriber line (DSL) network, a metropolitan area network (MAN), anInternet service provider (ISP) network, and the like. In one example,the other networks 140 may include different types of networks. Inanother example, the other networks 140 may be the same type of network.The other networks 140 may be controlled or operated by one or moredifferent entities. In one example, the other networks 140 may representthe Internet in general.

In one example, telecommunication network 101 may transport traffic toand from endpoint devices 171-185. For instance, the traffic may relateto communications such as voice telephone calls, video and othermultimedia, text messaging, emails, and so forth among the endpointdevices 171-185, or between the endpoint devices 171-185 and otherdevices that may be accessible via access network 123 and/or othernetworks 140. Endpoint devices 171-185 may comprise anysubscriber/customer endpoint device configured for wirelesscommunication such as a laptop computer, a Wi-Fi device, a PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA), a mobile phone, a smartphone, an email device,a computing tablet, a messaging device, and the like. In one example,any one or more of endpoint devices 171-185 may have both cellular andnon-cellular access capabilities and may further have wiredcommunication and networking capabilities.

As mentioned above, various components of network 103 and/ortelecommunication network 101 may comprise virtual network functions(VNFs) which may physically comprise hardware executingcomputer-readable/computer-executable instructions, code, and/orprograms to perform various functions. As illustrated in FIG. 1, units111-116 may comprise network function virtualization infrastructure(NFVI), which is configurable to perform a broad variety of networkfunctions and services. In other words, the NFVI of network 103 may hostvarious VNFs. For example, units 111-116 may comprise shared hardware,e.g., one or more host devices comprising line cards, central processingunits (CPUs), or processors, memories to holdcomputer-readable/computer-executable instructions, code, and/orprograms, and so forth. In the example of FIG. 1, units 111-116 maycomprise edge routers, e.g., provider edge (PE) routers (or virtualprovide edge (VPE) routers), which may provide connectivity to network103 for access networks 120-123 and other networks 140, or internalnodes, such as switches, route reflectors, and so forth. Units 111-116may be configured for IP routing and/or IP/MPLS routing, for example.

Any one or more of units 111-116 may alternatively or additionallycomprise cellular core network components including a serving gateway(SGW), a mobility management entity (MME), a packet data network gateway(PDNGW or PGW), a home subscriber server (HSS), and so forth, televisiondistribution components, such as a cable head end, a media server, acontent distribution network (CDN) node, and so forth, IMS networkand/or VoIP network components, a domain name service (DNS) server, apath computation entity (PCE), a firewall, a billing server, and so on.Although units 111-116 are described herein as comprising NFVI, itshould be noted that in other, further, and different examples, any oneor more of units 111-116 may comprise non-NFVI type devices, e.g.,devices that are not part of an SDN control scheme and/or which may havesubstantially fixed functions.

In one example, units 111-116 may be controlled and managed by asoftware defined network (SDN) controller 105. For instance, in oneexample, SDN controller 105 is responsible for such functions asprovisioning and releasing instantiations of VNFs to perform thefunctions of routers, switches, and other devices, provisioning routingtables and other operating parameters for the VNFs, and so forth. In oneexample, SDN controller 105 may maintain communications with VNFs and/orhost devices/NFVI via a number of control links which may comprisesecure tunnels for signaling communications over an underling IPinfrastructure of network 103. In other words, the control links maycomprise virtual links multiplexed with transmission traffic and otherdata traversing network 103 and carried over a shared set of physicallinks. For ease of illustration the control links are omitted fromFIG. 1. In one example, the SDN controller 105 may also comprise avirtual machine operating on NFVI/host device(s), or may comprise adedicated device. For instance, SDN controller 105 may be collocatedwith one or more VNFs, or may be deployed in a different host device orat a different physical location.

In one example, the SDN controller 105 may comprise a computing systemor server, such as computing system 300 depicted in FIG. 3, and may beconfigured to provide one or more operations or functions in accordancewith the present disclosure. The functions of SDN controller 105 mayinclude the selection of NFVI from among various NFVI available innetwork 103 (e.g., units 111-116) to host various VNF which may causethe NFVI to be configured as various devices, such as routers, gateways,switches, etc., and the instantiation of such devices. For example, withrespect to any one of units 111-116, SDN controller 105 may downloadcomputer-executable/computer-readable instructions, code, and/orprograms (broadly “provisioning code”), which when executed by aprocessing system of the one of units 111-116 respectively, may causethe one of units 111-116 to perform as a label switched router (LSR),e.g., a label switched PE router, a gateway, a route reflector, a SGW, aMME, a firewall, a media server, a DNS server, a PGW, a GMSC, a SMSC, aCCE, and so forth. In one example, SDN controller 105 may download theprovisioning code to the units 111-116. In another example, SDNcontroller 105 may instruct the units 111-116 to load the provisioningcode previously stored on the units 111-116 and/or to retrieve theprovisioning code from another device in network 103 that may store theprovisioning code for one or more VNFs. The functions of SDN controller105 may also include releasing or decommissioning VNFs from units111-116 when no longer required, the transferring of VNFs from one unitto another, and so on.

In accordance with the present disclosure, peering devices may establishpeer-to-peer networks for rerouting traffic of network 103, and forestablishing and/or maintaining communications of the peering deviceswith other remote devices accessible via the network 103 when networkdisruptions are encountered with respect to network 103 and/or accessnetworks 120-123. The peering devices may include devices at or near thenetwork edge, e.g., in access networks 120-123 or beyond, such aselements 151-154, endpoint devices 171-185, wireless access points 188and 189, and so on. As such, peering devices can include mobile endpointdevices such as smartphones, laptops, tablets, wearable computingdevices, and so forth for cellular, Wi-Fi, or other short rangepeer-to-peer communications, such as Bluetooth, ZigBee, etc. In oneexample, peering devices may also include cellular base stations, suchas service provider nodeBs, eNodeBs, or the like, home eNBs, personalcellular hotspot devices, wireless access points (e.g., Wi-Fi routers,Bluetooth beacons, etc.), and any other devices that can communicate viaa wireless and/or non-wireless peer-to-peer protocol and which areassociated with the telecommunication network 101 (either under thecontrol of the operator or under the control of a customer/subscriber).

In one example, network 103 may include a server 107. Server 107 maycomprise a computing system, such as computing system 300 depicted inFIG. 3, and may be configured to provide one or more operations orfunctions for establishing a peer-to-peer network for rerouting networktraffic of a telecommunication network during a network disruption, inaccordance with the present disclosure. For example, server 107 may beconfigured to perform one or more steps, functions, or operations inconnection with the example method 200 described below. In addition, itshould be noted that as used herein, the terms “configure,” and“reconfigure” may refer to programming or loading a processing systemwith computer-readable/computer-executable instructions, code, and/orprograms, e.g., in a distributed or non-distributed memory, which whenexecuted by a processor, or processors, of the processing system withina same device or within distributed devices, may cause the processingsystem to perform various functions. Such terms may also encompassproviding variables, data values, tables, objects, or other datastructures or the like which may cause a processing system executingcomputer-readable instructions, code, and/or programs to functiondifferently depending upon the values of the variables or other datastructures that are provided. As referred to herein a “processingsystem” may comprise a computing device including one or moreprocessors, or cores (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 3 and discussedbelow) or multiple computing devices collectively configured to performvarious steps, functions, and/or operations in accordance with thepresent disclosure.

For instance, server 107 may detect network disruptions in network 103or any of the access networks 120-123. In accordance with the presentdisclosure, a network disruption comprises any network event thatprevents at least a portion (e.g., one or more network devices, one ormore network paths, one or more network tunnels, etc.) of the networkfrom being reachable through the network itself. For example, broadly anetwork disruption may comprise a network power outage in the region ofthe telecommunication network, a network hardware component failure inthe region of the telecommunication network, or a loss of connectivityin the region of the telecommunication network. In other words, at leasta portion of the devices of the telecommunication network 101 orserviced by the telecommunication network 101 is unable to communicatewith other devices that are in the telecommunication network 101 and/orreachable via the telecommunication network 101. Network disruptions mayhave any number of causes, such as fiber cuts, hardware componentfailures, node failures, software configuration or upgrade errors,environmental or natural events, e.g., flooding, storms, earthquakes, orhurricanes causing widespread power outages, and so forth. The server107 may detect a network disruption in any number of ways, such as byone or more nodes reporting a link failure, a threshold period of timepassing without receiving a heartbeat message from one or more nodes, anotification from a node that the node or another neighboring node is orwill be taken offline, a notification from a node that a link will bedisconnected or is currently disconnected, a failure to respond to aninquiry or command from SDN controller 105, a notification from SDNcontroller 105 as to a change in the network that will interruptcommunications on one or more of the links 190-199 and/or between one ormore destinations, and so on.

In one example, when server 107 detects a network disruption, the server107 may identify a region of the network 103 and/or the access networks120-123 that is/are affected by the network disruption. Server 107 maythen attempt to send instructions (e.g., broadly first or secondinstructions) to peering devices at or near to the region to establish apeer-to-peer network to avoid or circumvent the network disruption. Forexample, server 107 may detect a network disruption comprising a failureof link 191. In one example, server 107 may identifylocation(s)/region(s) affected by the network disruption. Thelocation(s)/region(s) may be identified by geographic coordinates and/ormay be identified in reference to a network topology map, a networkprovisioning database, or the like. For instance, interconnected linksand devices may be indicated by such a map or provisioning database. Inaddition, circuits, label switched routes (LSRs), customer VPNs and soforth which are dependent upon links and devices which may be associatedwith a network disruption may also be indicated in such a networktopology map, provisioning database, or the like. In the presentexample, server 107 may determine that unit 113 and access network 120are unreachable from all portions of network 103 except via unit 114. Inaddition, server 107 may identify that element 152 in access network 121is an edge device that is near the network disruption, where “near” maybe determined in accordance with a threshold geographic distance, athreshold number of links or hops between the network disruption and theedge device, or similar criteria. Server 107 may therefore send one ormore messages to any peering devices reachable via the element 152(e.g., within wireless peer-to-peer communication range) to instruct theendpoint devices to configure a peer-to-peer network.

To illustrate, server 107 may, via element 152, send one or morebroadcast messages to any peered device within communication range ofelement 152. The broadcast message(s) may be cellular broadcastmessage(s) or non-cellular wireless broadcast message(s). In oneexample, the broadcast message(s) may comprise a Wi-Fi Direct peerdiscovery message. In one example, server 107 may indicate to element152 in a same message or in one or more separate messages that element152 is an anchor device for the peer-to-peer network that is to beestablished, i.e., a device where the peer-to-peer network connects tothe telecommunication network 101. Upon any peering device receiving thebroadcast message, the peering device may then activate a functionalityof being a node in a peer-to-peer network. In the example of FIG. 1, atleast endpoint device 173 is within communication range of element 152.In one example, endpoint device 173 may retransmit the message fromserver 107, and/or transmit one or more new messages to any peeringdevices within communication range of endpoint device 173, e.g., wherethe message(s) further instruct(s) any other peering devices toreconfigure to be part of the peer-to-peer network. In the example ofFIG. 1, endpoint device 172 is reachable in this way. The message(s)retransmitted by endpoint device 173 may comprise one or morenon-cellular wireless broadcast messages, wireless ad-hoc networkingprotocol discovery messages, such as a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer/Wi-Fi Directpeer discovery messages, or the like. In one example, each of thepeering devices receiving such a message may contact one or more otherpeering devices with a peer-to-peer invite request (e.g., Wi-Fi Directpeer invite) to establish the actual peer-to-peer links between peeringdevices.

Endpoint device 172 may also retransmit the message(s) from server 107and/or transmit one or more new messages to any other peering devices,e.g., endpoint device 171, in range of endpoint device 172. As statedabove, peering devices may also include devices that are not customerendpoint devices, such as elements 151 and 152. In this regard, endpointdevice 171 may send message(s) that is/are received by element 151.Element 151 may therefore configure itself as a node in the peer-to-peernetwork. However, since element 151 is part of the access network 120and has received the message(s) via one of the endpoint devices (e.g.,endpoint device 171), and not via the network 103, element 151 maydetermine that it is an anchor device for the peer-to-peer network. Inaddition, the receiving of the message(s) via an endpoint device furtherindicates to element 151 that it is in a region that may be cut off fromother parts of network 103 and access networks 121-123.

As such, a peer-to-peer network (e.g., a wireless ad-hoc network, mobilead-hoc network, a wireless mesh network, a self-optimizing network(SON), etc.) comprising endpoint devices 171-173 and elements 151 and152 may be established. The peer-to-peer network provides the abilityfor network traffic that would otherwise be carried via link 191 toinstead be routed via the peer-to-peer network. For example, a user ofendpoint device 180 may seek to send a text message to a user ofendpoint device 176, which is reachable via access network 123 andwireless access point 188. Without the network disruption, the textmessage may be routed via element 151 through units 113, 111, 112, 115,and 116 in network 103, and via wireless access point 188 through accessnetwork 123. However, since unit 111 cannot be reached from unit 113 vialink 191, the text message may instead be routed via the peer-to-peernetwork. For instance, endpoint device 180 may transmit the text messageto element 151. Element 151 may then divert the text message to thepeer-to-peer network through endpoint device 171 and exiting thepeer-to-peer network via element 152. The text message may then befurther routed to the destination, endpoint device 176 via units 112,115, and 116 in network 103, and via wireless access point 188 throughaccess network 123. The routing within and across the peer-to-peernetwork may be in accordance with the protocol used for communicationsof the peer-to-peer network, such as link state routing (LSR), distancevector routing, dynamic source routing, and so forth.

In one example, the message(s) to establish the peer-to-peer network mayalso indicate the location(s)/region(s) of the network disruption. Thelocation(s)/region(s) may be identified by geographic coordinates orzones of coordinates and/or may be identified in accordance with anetwork topology that is known to devices in the network 103, accessnetworks 120-123, and/or endpoint devices 171-185, and so forth. In oneexample, a peering device that may receive one or more messages toestablish the peer-to-peer network may self-identify a location of thepeering device to determine whether the peering device is between theanchor device where the message(s) originated and anotherlocation/region of the network that is beyond the location of thenetwork disruption. For instance, endpoint device 174 may receive one ormore messages from element 152 instructing peering devices to establisha peer-to-peer network to avoid the network disruption affecting link191. However, endpoint device 174 may determine that the location ofendpoint device 174 is further away from the network disruption than theelement 152 and that endpoint device 174 is therefore not along a paththat should be used to reroute network traffic around the network outageassociated with link 191.

In one example, peering devices may have configuration code pre-storedthereon which may be activated in response to receiving one or moremessages to self-configure as a peer-to-peer network node. In oneexample, for peering devices comprising user endpoint devices, theconfiguration code may be stored in a secure data store that is notaccessible from the user space. In addition, the configuration code,when activated, may run in a dedicated portion of the memory that is notassignable to user applications or any other threads associated with thenormal operations of the endpoint device (e.g., those operations whichare not related to the establishment and operation as a node in thepeer-to-peer network of the present disclosure). For example, theendpoint device may include a virtual machine monitor (VMM) orhypervisor which may maintain separate environments for user functionsand the functions of a peer-to-peer network node in accordance with thepresent disclosure. In this regard, it should be noted that while thepeer-to-peer network may be established utilizing the same functionalitywhich may be accessed by a user to establish a peer-to-peer link, thepeer-to-peer network of the present disclosure is not directlyaccessible from the user space. For instance, the user space and thepeer-to-peer node functionality may comprise separate virtual machinesoperating on shared hardware and may communicate with one another aslogically separate components. To illustrate, if the endpoint device hasits own network traffic to send in connection with normal operations onbehalf of the user, in one example, the network traffic may be sent fromthe user space virtual machine to the virtual machine for the node ofthe peer-to-peer network, e.g., via a VMM of the endpoint device. Thepeer-to-peer network node function may then route the network traffic inaccordance with the configuration code.

In one example, the configuration code may further include code foradditional functions, such as load balancing functions, quality ofservice (QoS) enforcement functions, and so forth. For instance, certainpeering devices may include enhanced functional capabilities due to thesuperior processing capacity of such devices and/or a power availabilityof such devices (e.g., a home eNB plugged into a power source versus asmartphone operating on battery power), a willingness of an owner (e.g.,of a user endpoint device) to host network traffic for others, acontractual requirement of an owner to host such functions, and soforth.

In one example, an anchor device or anchor devices of the peer-to-peernetwork may attempt to send a notification to the server 107 when thepeer-to-peer network is established. The notification may identify theanchor device(s). The notification may also indicate a throughput, abandwidth, a packet loss ratio, or other parameters of the peer-to-peernetwork. In one example, the parameters of the peer-to-peer network maybe measured by one or more anchor devices, e.g., when the peer-to-peernetwork is established and/or periodically as the peer-to-peer networkremains in operation. In one example, the parameters of the peer-to-peernetwork may be indicated separately for reaching devices in thepeer-to-peer network and for routing network traffic through thepeer-to-peer network (i.e., network traffic diverted from network 103that is then routed back to network 103 for destination device(s) notwithin the peer-to-peer network). In one example, the notification mayinclude a topology of the dynamically established peer-to-peer networkand the peering devices within the peer-to-peer network.

In one example, the rerouting of network traffic to the peer-to-peernetwork is controlled from within the network 103. In one example, theserver 107 may instruct units of network 103 (e.g., among units 111-116that may process network traffic that is affected by the network event)to divert the network traffic to the peer-to-peer network. In oneexample, the server 107 may identify the peer-to-peer network as anavailable path to a path computation element (PCE) 109. For instance,network 103 may utilize IP/MPLS routing within the network 103. The PCE109 may then receive requests from units within network 103 for pathcomputation decisions regarding network traffic transiting via the unitsof network 103. For instance, unit 112 may be instructed to routetraffic between endpoint device 180 and endpoint device 176 over link197 (e.g., rather than over link 192 as may be the case in the absenceof a failure of link 191).

In one example, server 107 may further communicate with SDN controller105 to instantiate new VNFs, to reconfigure existing VNFs, and so forthin connection with the availability of the peer-to-peer network for thediversion of network traffic to the peer-to-peer network. For instance,additional routers may be instantiated via units 111-116, additionalbandwidth may be assigned to or made available to links between variousunits 111-116, and so on. In addition, in one example, SDN controller105 may further provision or reconfigure baseband units and/or remoteradio heads, e.g., of elements 151 and 152 in anticipation of, or inresponse to a measured increase in the network traffic being handled byelements 151 and 152. In one example, server 107 may also identify oneor more of the peering devices for performing additional functions,e.g., beyond simply operating as a routing node in the peer-to-peernetwork. For instance, certain peering devices may be instructed toadditionally operate as a router, a buffer, a traffic shaper, afirewall, and so forth. It should be noted that once established, theinstructions (e.g., broadly first or second instructions) may be sentvia the peer-to-peer network to reach such peering devices.

In another example, endpoint device 178 may attempt to establish a voicecall with endpoint device 187, e.g., a landline and/or VoIP telephone.Without the network disruption affecting link 191, the call may beestablished through access network 122, network 103, and access network123 over links 199, 195, 191, 192, 193, 194, and 198. However, due tothe unavailability of link 191, unit 113 may divert the call to thepeer-to-peer network via link 190 and element 151. The peer-to-peernetwork may deliver data for the call between elements 151 and 152. Forinstance, for outbound voice data (e.g., network traffic) from endpointdevice 178, unit 113 may divert the voice data to element 151, where thevoice data is passed through the peer-to-peer network to element 152.Element 152 may then forward the voice data to unit 112 where the voicedata is routed to endpoint device 187 via links 193, 194, and 198, andaccess network 123. Voice data from endpoint device 187 to endpointdevice 178 may be similarly conveyed via a reverse path that includesthe peer-to-peer network between elements 151 and 152. It should benoted that in one example, the voice call data (network traffic) may beconveyed as IP packets (e.g., VoIP) using IP and/or IP/MPLS routing innetwork 103, IP over cellular and/or Wi-Fi Direct in the peer-to-peernetwork, IP (VoIP) packets or data units in accordance withcircuit-switched network technologies in the access network 123, and soforth.

In still another example, server 107 may detect a network disruptioncomprising a failure of link 199. For instance, a weather event may havedamaged the link 199 or caused a connection to link 199 from elements153 and 154 to be disconnected. Thus, the network 103 is not accessiblevia the access network 122. In such an example, server 107 may identifythat element 151 in access network 120 and wireless access point 189 areedge devices that are near the network disruption. Server 107 maytherefore send one or more messages to any reachable peering devices viathe element 151 and the wireless access point 189 to instruct thepeering devices to configure a peer-to-peer network. As illustrated inFIG. 1, endpoint device 177 may receive the message(s) via wirelessaccess point 189. However, there are no further peering that are withincommunication range. Thus, one peer-to-peer network comprises wirelessaccess point 189 and endpoint device 177. On the other hand, endpointdevice 180 may receive the message(s) via element 151 and configureitself to operate as part of another peer-to-peer network. In addition,endpoint device 180 may forward the message(s) or transmit newmessage(s) which may be further received and forwarded by other peeringdevices to establish the peer-to-peer network.

It should be noted that the peer-to-peer network extends to endpointdevice 179 and also includes the elements 153 and 154. While theelements 153 and 154 cannot utilize the normal backhaul (e.g., link199), the elements 153 and 154 may still operate as peering devices inthe peer-to-peer network. In addition, the elements 153 and 154 may havea greater range and throughput due to larger antennas, or remote radioheads (RRHs), carrier grade baseband processing units and/or other basestation equipment. In one example, the elements 153 and 154 may alsoutilize both cellular and non-cellular wireless communications toprovide additional bandwidth, and/or to provide additional security(e.g., using cellular communications between endpoint device 179 andelement 153 instead of Wi-Fi), and so on. In one example, elements 153and 154 may route network traffic for the peer-to-peer network via awired link as an alternative or in addition to a cellular and/or anon-cellular wireless link. In the present example, the message(s) toestablish the peer-to-peer network do not reach another edge device witha separate pathway to the network 103. Thus, this particularpeer-to-peer network has just one anchor device, i.e., element 151.

Continuing with the present example, endpoint device 178 may attempt toretrieve weather information from a web server via other networks 140.In the absence of the network disruption, endpoint device 178 mayestablish a cellular data session with element 154 to reach the webserver via access network 122, network 103, and other networks 140.However, due to the unavailability of link 199, access network 122 isisolated except for the peer-to-peer network anchored at element 151.Accordingly, endpoint device 178 may instead establish a connection tothe web server via the peer-to-peer network, e.g., either throughendpoint device 185 and/or through element 154.

In one example, the peer-to-peer network may utilize all-Wi-FiDirect-based communications. In another example, the peer-to-peernetwork may utilize two or more peer-to-peer communication protocols,e.g., using Wi-Fi Direct between endpoint devices, and using cellularcommunication protocols when involving elements 151, 153, and 154communicating with each other and/or with an endpoint device. Forexample, each of the peering devices comprising a user endpoint devicethat receives a message for establishing the peer-to-peer network mayalso determine whether it is in communication with cellular networkinfrastructure, e.g., elements 151-154. In particular, the peeringdevice may also send a cellular or non-cellular peer discover message toone of the elements 151-154. If one of the elements 151-154 is withinrange, the one of elements 151-154 and/or the endpoint device may followwith a peer-to-peer invitation request. Alternatively, or in addition, adefault bearer and/or dedicated bearer between the endpoint device andone of the elements 151-154 may be established for the exclusive use ofthe peer-to-peer network node function of the endpoint device (e.g., notaccessible from the user space).

It should be noted that the system 100 has been simplified. In otherwords, the system 100 may be implemented in a different form than thatillustrated in FIG. 1. For example, the system 100 may be expanded toinclude additional networks, such as NOC networks, and additionalnetwork elements (not shown) such as border elements, routers, switches,policy servers, security devices, gateways, a content distributionnetwork (CDN) and the like, without altering the scope of the presentdisclosure. In addition, system 100 may be altered to omit variouselements, substitute elements for devices that perform the same orsimilar functions and/or combine elements that are illustrated asseparate devices. For example, SDN controller 105, server 107, and/orother network elements may comprise functions that are spread acrossseveral devices that operate collectively as a SDN controller, a server,etc. Thus, these and other modifications of the system 100 are allcontemplated within the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 illustrates a flowchart of an example method 200 for establishinga peer-to-peer network for rerouting network traffic of atelecommunication network during a network disruption. In one example,steps, functions and/or operations of the method 200 may be performed bya device as illustrated in FIG. 1, e.g., server 107, or any one or morecomponents thereof, such as a processing system. Alternatively, or inaddition, the steps, functions and/or operations of the method 200 maybe performed by a processing system collectively comprising a pluralityof devices as illustrated in FIG. 1, such as server 107, SDN controller105, PCE 109, elements 151-154, units 111-116, endpoint devices 171-186,and so forth. In one example, the steps, functions, or operations ofmethod 200 may be performed by a computing device or system 300, and/ora processing system 302 as described in connection with FIG. 3 below.For instance, the computing device 300 may represent at least a portionof a server, a peering device, and so forth in accordance with thepresent disclosure. For illustrative purposes, the method 200 isdescribed in greater detail below in connection with an exampleperformed by a processing system, such as processing system 302. Themethod 200 begins in step 205 and proceeds to step 210.

At step 210, the processing system detects a network disruption in aregion of a telecommunication network, where the network disruptionprevents a communication between at least a first device of thetelecommunication network and at least a second device of thetelecommunication network. For example, the network disruption maycomprise a network outage in the region of the telecommunicationnetwork, a network failure in the region of the telecommunicationnetwork, a loss of connectivity in the region of the telecommunicationnetwork, and so forth. The network disruption may have any number ofcauses, such as fiber cuts, hardware component failures, node failures,software configuration or upgrade errors, environmental or naturalevents, e.g., flooding, storms, earthquakes, or hurricanes causingwidespread power outages, and so forth. The network disruption may bedetected in various ways, such as by one or more nodes reporting a linkfailure, a threshold period of time passing without receiving aheartbeat message from one or more nodes, a notification from a nodethat the node or another neighboring node is or will be taken offline, anotification from a node that a link will be disconnected or isdisconnected, a failure to respond to a communication from an SDNcontroller, an advance notification of network maintenance or repairs,and so on.

At optional step 215, the processing system may identify the pluralityof peering devices associated with the region of the telecommunicationnetwork, e.g., peering devices in or near the region. In one example,each of the plurality of peering devices is identified as beingassociated with the region of the telecommunication network via locationinformation indicating that each of the peering devices is present inthe region. The location information may comprise at least one of:global positioning system (GPS) location information, received signalstrength (RSS) location information, time of arrival (TOA) locationinformation, time difference of arrival (TDOA) location information, orangle of arrival (AOA) location information. In one example, theprocessing system may utilize location information that may be receivedand stored prior to detecting the network disruption. For instance, theprocessing system may track cellular endpoint device locations via a MMEand/or an HSS that may collect and store location information as part ofnormal network operations.

At step 220, the processing system identifies a first peering device ofa plurality of peering devices having a connection to the first deviceof the telecommunication network. For instance, the processing systemmay identify a peering device comprising a mobile endpoint device suchas a smartphone, a laptop, a tablet computing device, a wearablecomputing device, or the like, a home eNB, personal cellular hotspotdevice, a wireless access point/wireless router, and so forth, which mayhave a connection to a cellular base station or a wireless access pointof the telecommunication network, or which may have a connection to thetelecommunication network via a wired access network (e.g., a personalcomputing device with wireless peer-to-peer networking capability, inaddition to having a wired home Internet connection). Alternatively orin addition, the first peering device may comprise a cellular basestation or non-cellular wireless access point of the telecommunicationnetwork which may be further connected to other devices of thetelecommunication network. For example, a cellular base station may beconnected to a cellular core network (e.g., via a serving gateway(SGW)). Similarly, a wireless access point of a wireless hotspotprovided by the operator of the telecommunication network may be furtherconnected to a core network edge router, or the like. In one example,the first peering device may be identified via a periodic heartbeatmessage sent by the first peering device to a component of thetelecommunication network (e.g., to a MME and/or an HSS), or by way of aresponse to a message sent by the processing system via the first deviceof the telecommunication network.

At step 225, the processing system identifies a second peering device ofthe plurality of peering devices having a connection to the seconddevice of the telecommunication network. For instance, the secondpeering device may be identified in the same or a similar manner as thefirst peering device as described in connection with step 220. However,the second peering device may connect to the second device of thetelecommunication network (e.g., a second anchor device).

At step 230, the processing system establishes a peer-to-peer networkvia the plurality of peering devices, e.g., a wireless ad-hoc networkand/or a wireless mesh network comprising a plurality of Wi-Fipeer-to-peer/Wi-Fi Direct links. In one example, the processing systemestablishes the peer-to-peer network via an instruction (e.g., firstinstruction) to at least one of the first of the plurality of peeringdevices or the second of the plurality of peering devices. In oneexample, the at least one of the first of the plurality of peeringdevices or the second of the plurality of peering devices maycommunicate (e.g., using the same first instruction or a new secondinstruction) with other peering devices of the plurality of peeringdevices to establish the peer-to-peer network. For instance, theplurality of peering devices may exchange wireless ad-hoc networkingprotocol discovery messages, such as a Wi-Fi peer-to-peer/Wi-Fi Directpeer discovery messages, or the like. In addition, the plurality ofpeering devices may utilize peer-to-peer invite requests to further setup the peer-to-peer wireless links. In one embodiment, at least one ofthe first peering device and the second peering device of the pluralityof peering devices is a mobile endpoint device, wherein the endpointdevice is configured to operate as a virtual network function.

In one example, each of the plurality of peering devices has aconnection to at least one other of the plurality of peering devices. Inaddition, in one example, the peer-to-peer network comprises a pluralityof wireless links among the plurality of peering devices. The wirelesslinks may comprise non-cellular wireless links (e.g., Wi-Fi Direct). Thewireless links may also comprise at least one cellular wireless link. Inone example, the plurality of peering devices comprises at least onemobile endpoint device. In addition, in one example, the plurality ofpeering devices further comprises at least one wireless access point.For instance, instead of providing endpoint devices with a connection toa wired access network, the wireless access point may instead bewirelessly connected to one or more other wireless access points and/orto one or more mobile endpoint devices as part of the peer-to peernetwork.

In one example, the peer-to-peer network may also include at least onewired link among the plurality of peering devices. For example, twocellular base stations may be linked together by a fiber backhaul, whilethe network disruption may comprise a fiber cut closer to the corenetwork. Thus, in one example, the cellular base stations maycommunicate with each other as wireless peers. However, as analternative, or in addition, the cellular base stations may alsocommunicate with each other as peers via the wired connection.

At optional step 235, the processing system may select at least oneother of the peering devices (e.g., other than the first or the secondpeering device) to operate as a virtual network function (VNF) basedupon at least one of: a location of the at least one other of thepeering devices relative to a location of the network disruption, thelocation of the at least one other of the peering devices relative to anaccess point of the telecommunication network, or a capacity of the atleast one other of the peering devices, such as a processing capacity, amemory capacity, a power capacity (e.g., having extended battery powerand/or AC power source), or the like. The VNF may comprise, for example,a router, a buffer, a firewall, a traffic shaper, and so forth.

At optional step 240, the processing system may transmit an instructionto the at least one other of the peering devices to configure the atleast one other of the peering devices to operate as the VNF. Theinstruction may indicate to the peering device where and/or how toobtain a configuration code for the VNF, may indicate to the peeringdevice that configuration code will be provided via the processingsystem and/or from another source, and so on. In one example, thepeering device may also have configuration code stored thereon and mayactivate the configuration code in response to the instruction.

At step 245, the processing system routes network traffic between thefirst device of the telecommunication network and the second device ofthe telecommunication network via the peer-to-peer network. In oneexample, the network traffic is routed between the first device of thetelecommunication network and the second device of the telecommunicationnetwork via at least the first peering device and the second peeringdevice. In one example, the network traffic originates external to theplurality of peering devices. For instance, the network traffic may beplaced onto the peer-to-peer network from the telecommunication networkand may be returned to the telecommunication network at an egress fromthe peer-to-peer network, e.g., thereby routing the network trafficaround the network disruption.

At optional step 250, the processing system may detect a mobile endpointdevice via at least one of the plurality of peering devices. Forinstance, the mobile endpoint device may be within wirelesscommunication range of at least one of the plurality of peering devicesand may be detected via a wireless peer discovery message (e.g., a Wi-FiDirect peer discovery message transmitted by either the mobile endpointdevice or the at least one of the plurality of peering devices). Itshould be noted that the peering devices of the peer-to-peer network caninclude mobile endpoint devices, wireless access points, etc., butoptional step 250 relates to a new mobile endpoint device entering thearea and that may be detected via wireless peer discovery.

At optional step 255, the processing system may reconfigure thepeer-to-peer network to include the new mobile endpoint device. In oneexample, the peer detection of optional step 250 may be reported to theprocessing system which may be centralized in the telecommunicationnetwork, and the processing system may send an instruction to the atleast one of the plurality of peering devices to send a peer inviterequest to the new mobile endpoint device. In another example, theprocessing system may be expanded to include the peering devices of thepeer-to-peer network, and the reconfiguring of the peer-to-peer networkof optional step 255 may be performed by the peering devices themselveswhile self-optimizing.

Following step 245, or one of optional steps 250-255, the method 200proceeds to step 295. At step 295, the method 200 ends.

It should be noted that the method 200 may be expanded to includeadditional steps or may be modified to include additional operationswith respect to the steps outlined above. For instance, in one examplethe processing system may detect that a network disruption is resolvedand may tear down the peer-to-peer network accordingly. In one example,the method 200 may be repeated for other network disruptions in the sameor different regions of the network. In one example, the method 200 mayfurther include provisioning or reconfiguring VNFs and/or NFVI withinthe network to support the diversion of network traffic to thepeer-to-peer network. Thus, these and other modifications are allcontemplated within the scope of the present disclosure.

In addition, although not specifically specified, one or more steps,functions or operations of the method 200 may include a storing,displaying and/or outputting step as required for a particularapplication. In other words, any data, records, fields, and/orintermediate results discussed in the method 200 can be stored,displayed and/or outputted either on the device executing the method200, or to another device, as required for a particular application.Furthermore, steps, blocks, functions, or operations in FIG. 2 thatrecite a determining operation or involve a decision do not necessarilyrequire that both branches of the determining operation be practiced. Inother words, one of the branches of the determining operation can bedeemed as an optional step. In addition, one or more steps, blocks,functions, or operations of the above described method 200 may compriseoptional steps, or can be combined, separated, and/or performed in adifferent order from that described above, without departing from theexamples of the present disclosure.

It should be noted that the above disclosure discloses various scenariosimpacting a particular region of the telecommunication network. Itshould be noted that a network disruption may impact multiple differentregions of the telecommunication network simultaneously. As such, thepresent disclosure is equally applicable when the network disruptionimpacts multiple different regions of the telecommunication networksimultaneously, i.e., the dynamic establishment of multiple peer to peernetworks as necessary. Additionally, in one embodiment when an endpointdevice is requested to support the dynamic establishment of the peer topeer network in response to a network disruption, it is based onreceiving prior authorization from the user of the mobile endpointdevice, e.g., when the user opted into a service for supporting theestablishment of the peer to peer network, or informed dynamically inreal time of the need to establish the peer to peer network when thenetwork disruption occurs. Once authorization is received from the user,the peer to peer network can be established. In one embodiment, anincentive is provided to the users for their assistance in theestablishment of the peer to peer network to alleviate the networkdisruption, e.g., a monetary-based incentive, e.g., receiving a discountin their bills, or a service-based incentive, e.g., receiving anadditional new service without charge for a limited time, or a serviceupgrade for a limited time, and so on.

FIG. 3 depicts a high-level block diagram of a computing device orprocessing system specifically programmed to perform the functionsdescribed herein. As depicted in FIG. 3, the computing system 300comprises one or more hardware processor elements 302 (e.g., a centralprocessing unit (CPU), a microprocessor, or a multi-core processor), amemory 304 (e.g., random access memory (RAM) and/or read only memory(ROM)), a module 305 for establishing a peer-to-peer network forrerouting network traffic of a telecommunication network during anetwork disruption and various input/output devices 306 (e.g., storagedevices, including but not limited to, a tape drive, a floppy drive, ahard disk drive or a compact disk drive, a receiver, a transmitter, aspeaker, a display, a speech synthesizer, an output port, an input portand a user input device (such as a keyboard, a keypad, a mouse, amicrophone and the like)). In accordance with the present disclosureinput/output devices 306 may also include antenna elements,transceivers, power units, and so forth. Although only one processorelement is shown, it should be noted that the computing device mayemploy a plurality of processor elements. Furthermore, although only onecomputing device is shown in the figure, if the method 200 as discussedabove is implemented in a distributed or parallel manner for aparticular illustrative example, i.e., the steps of the above method200, or the entire method 200 is implemented across multiple or parallelcomputing devices, e.g., a processing system, then the computing deviceof this figure is intended to represent each of those multiple computingdevices.

Furthermore, one or more hardware processors can be utilized insupporting a virtualized or shared computing environment. Thevirtualized computing environment may support one or more virtualmachines representing computers, servers, or other computing devices. Insuch virtualized virtual machines, hardware components such as hardwareprocessors and computer-readable storage devices may be virtualized orlogically represented. The hardware processor 302 can also be configuredor programmed to cause other devices to perform one or more operationsas discussed above. In other words, the hardware processor 302 may servethe function of a central controller directing other devices to performthe one or more operations as discussed above.

It should be noted that the present disclosure can be implemented insoftware and/or in a combination of software and hardware, e.g., usingapplication specific integrated circuits (ASIC), a programmable gatearray (PGA) including a Field PGA, or a state machine deployed on ahardware device, a computing device or any other hardware equivalents,e.g., computer readable instructions pertaining to the method discussedabove can be used to configure a hardware processor to perform thesteps, functions and/or operations of the above disclosed method 200. Inone example, instructions and data for the present module or process 305for establishing a peer-to-peer network for rerouting network traffic ofa telecommunication network during a network disruption (e.g., asoftware program comprising computer-executable instructions) can beloaded into memory 304 and executed by hardware processor element 302 toimplement the steps, functions, or operations as discussed above inconnection with the illustrative method 200. Furthermore, when ahardware processor executes instructions to perform “operations,” thiscould include the hardware processor performing the operations directlyand/or facilitating, directing, or cooperating with another hardwaredevice or component (e.g., a co-processor and the like) to perform theoperations.

The processor executing the computer readable or software instructionsrelating to the above described method can be perceived as a programmedprocessor or a specialized processor. As such, the present module 305for establishing a peer-to-peer network for rerouting network traffic ofa telecommunication network during a network disruption (includingassociated data structures) of the present disclosure can be stored on atangible or physical (broadly non-transitory) computer-readable storagedevice or medium, e.g., volatile memory, non-volatile memory, ROMmemory, RAM memory, magnetic or optical drive, device or diskette, andthe like. Furthermore, a “tangible” computer-readable storage device ormedium comprises a physical device, a hardware device, or a device thatis discernible by the touch. More specifically, the computer-readablestorage device may comprise any physical devices that provide theability to store information such as data and/or instructions to beaccessed by a processor or a computing device such as a computer or anapplication server.

While various examples have been described above, it should beunderstood that they have been presented by way of illustration only,and not a limitation. Thus, the breadth and scope of any aspect of thepresent disclosure should not be limited by any of the above-describedexamples, but should be defined only in accordance with the followingclaims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method comprising: reporting, by a processor ofa first wireless device, to a processing system of a telecommunicationnetwork that a second wireless device has been discovered; receiving, bythe processor of the first wireless device, a first instruction from theprocessing system of the telecommunication network to invite the secondwireless device to form a peer-to-peer network; sending, by theprocessor of the first wireless device, an invite message to the secondwireless device to form the peer-to-peer network; receiving, by theprocessor of the first wireless device, an acceptance message from thesecond wireless device to form the peer-to-peer network, wherein thepeer-to-peer network is formed comprising the first wireless device andthe second wireless device; and receiving, by the processor of the firstwireless device, network traffic originating from a first core networkcomponent device of the telecommunication network to be routed to asecond core network component device of the telecommunication networkvia the peer-to-peer network due to a network disruption in a region ofa telecommunication network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein at leastone of: the first wireless device or the second wireless device is amobile endpoint device.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the mobileendpoint device is configured to operate as a virtual network function.4. The method of claim 1, further comprising: forwarding, by theprocessor of the first wireless device, the network traffic originatingfrom the first core network component device of the telecommunicationnetwork to the second wireless device for delivery to the second corenetwork component device of the telecommunication network.
 5. The methodof claim 1, wherein the first wireless device and the second wirelessdevice are identified as being associated with the region of thetelecommunication network.
 6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of thefirst wireless device and the second wireless device is identified viarespective location information as being associated with the region ofthe telecommunication network.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein thelocation information comprises at least one of: global positioningsystem location information; received signal strength locationinformation; time of arrival location information; time difference ofarrival location information; or angle of arrival location information.8. The method of claim 1, further comprising: receiving, by theprocessor of the first wireless device, a second instruction from theprocessing system of the telecommunication network to configure thefirst wireless device to operate as a virtual network function.
 9. Themethod of claim 8, wherein the virtual network function comprises atleast one of: a router; a buffer; a firewall; or a traffic shaper. 10.The method of claim 8, wherein the first wireless device is selected tooperate as the virtual network function based upon at least one of: alocation of the first wireless device relative to a location of thenetwork disruption; the location of the first wireless device relativeto an access point of the telecommunication network; or a capacity ofthe first wireless device.
 11. The method of claim 1, wherein at leastone of: the first wireless device or the second wireless device is awireless access point.
 12. The method of claim 1, wherein thepeer-to-peer network comprises one or more wireless links between thefirst wireless device and the second wireless device.
 13. The method ofclaim 12, wherein the peer-to-peer network further comprises at leastone wired link between the first wireless device and the second wirelessdevice.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein the network disruptioncomprises a network power outage in the region of the telecommunicationnetwork.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein the network disruptioncomprises a network hardware component failure in the region of thetelecommunication network.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein thenetwork disruption comprises a loss of connectivity in the region of thetelecommunication network.
 17. The method of claim 1, wherein thenetwork traffic originates external to the first wireless device and thesecond wireless device.
 18. The method of claim 1, wherein each of thefirst wireless device and the second wireless device has a connection toat least one other peering device.
 19. A first wireless devicecomprising: a processing system including at least one processor; and acomputer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed bythe processing system, cause the processing system to performoperations, the operations comprising: reporting to a processing systemof a telecommunication network that a second wireless device has beendiscovered; receiving a first instruction from the processing system ofthe telecommunication network to invite the second wireless device toform a peer-to-peer network; sending an invite message to the secondwireless device to form the peer-to-peer network; receiving anacceptance message from the second wireless device to form thepeer-to-peer network, wherein the peer-to-peer network is formedcomprising the first wireless device and the second wireless device; andreceiving network traffic originating from a first core networkcomponent device of the telecommunication network to be routed to asecond core network component device of the telecommunication networkvia the peer-to-peer network due to a network disruption in a region ofa telecommunication network.
 20. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium storing instructions which, when executed by a processing systemincluding at least one processor of a first wireless device, cause theprocessing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:reporting to a processing system of a telecommunication network that asecond wireless device has been discovered; receiving a firstinstruction from the processing system of the telecommunication networkto invite the second wireless device to form a peer-to-peer network;sending an invite message to the second wireless device to form thepeer-to-peer network; receiving an acceptance message from the secondwireless device to form the peer-to-peer network, wherein thepeer-to-peer network is formed comprising the first wireless device andthe second wireless device; and receiving network traffic originatingfrom a first core network component device of the telecommunicationnetwork to be routed to a second core network component device of thetelecommunication network via the peer-to-peer network due to a networkdisruption in a region of a telecommunication network.